Direct buying

Direct buying means booking advertising space straight from the screen owner or network, with screens, dates and airtime fixed in advance. The slots are guaranteed, and the price is agreed before the campaign starts.

How is it bought?

On digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens, in streets, malls and stations, the buyer (an advertiser or an agency) tells the seller what it wants: which screens or areas, which dates, how much airtime per loop. The seller checks its inventory, sends a priced proposal, and both sides agree. Once signed, those slots are yours: nobody can outbid you for them. That is why direct buying is also called guaranteed buying.

The alternative is programmatic DOOH, where software buys screen time automatically, often at auction, closer to the moment the ad plays.

• Direct buying: guaranteed slots, negotiated price, a real contact on the seller’s side, longer to set up.
• Programmatic buying: automated, flexible, quick to start and adjust, with no guarantee that a given slot is yours.

The two can be combined in the same campaign.

Example

Illustrative example: a furniture retailer books 10 screens around its 3 stores for 4 weeks, with a 10-second slot in a 60-second loop on each. Its ad plays once per loop, so 60 times an hour, on every screen, every day of the campaign, at a price fixed before launch. Bought at auction instead, the same budget might win more plays on some days and fewer on others.

Why it matters when you plan a DOOH campaign

If you want to be remembered in a specific place, you need to know your ad will actually be there, at the hours that count, every day of the campaign. That is what a guaranteed slot gives you: airtime you can build a plan on, not a share you hope to win.

Direct buying also opens screens that are not always sold through automated platforms, such as local networks in gyms, pharmacies or neighborhood malls. For a campaign anchored in one area, those are often the screens closest to your customers.

The trade-off is speed: direct takes more coordination. Use it for the core of a local campaign, where presence must be guaranteed, and keep automated buying for short, flexible pushes.